A cokpobation of pennsyl



July 1 1020. 1,500,003

W. LAR'KIN YARN CHANGER Filed June 27. 1919 4 Sheets-Sm=m 1 J'ufiy 11924 1,500,083

. w. LARKIN YARN CHANGER Filed June 27, 1919 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 1E924.

W. LARKIN YARN CHANGER Filed June 27,

1919 v4 Sheets-Sheet W. LARKIN YARN CHANGER Filed June 27 1919 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Jolly ll, l244 UNITED STATES WALTER LARKIN, orPHILADELPHIA, ENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 nmn'ron COMPANY, VANIA.

0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF FENNSYL- YARN CHANGER.

Application filed June 27, 1919. Serial No. 307,076.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER LARKIN, a citizen of the United Statesresiding in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented Yarn Changers, ofwhich the following is a specification.

One object of this invention is to provide a yarn changing mechanism forcircular knitting machines whereby it shall be'possible to automaticallygovern the movement of at least three thread guides or fingers into andout of their active positions, with a view to providing the objectknitted with a pattern of three or more colors or kinds or weights ofyarn.

The invention also contemplates novel means for cutting and thereafterholding the ends of those threads not being knitted at any given time,together with a novel form of governing cam mechanism whereby anydesired succession of the thread guides may be moved into operativepositions and others of said guides be successively moved into inactivepositions.

It is also desired to provide a simple, substantial and reliable meanswhereby the threads leading from the several thread guides of a machineof the character described are severed, held and released atpredetermined times relatively to the times of operation of the threadguides.

I further desire to provide novel means for selectively actuating atleast three thread guides and at least two associated thread holding andcutting devices, whereby after any one of at least three threads hasbeen thrown into action, its end is released, and similarly when any ofsaid threads is thrown out of action, it is cut-and its end held ;thevarious parts of the apparatus being so formed and positioned relativelyto the needles that there shall be no long.

thread ends adjacent the points of junction of the different threads andconsequently no necessity for the subsequent removal of such ends. I

It is also desired that the construction shall be such as to eliminatethe long loose knitted in thread ends which. ordinarily occur at thepoints of c ange from one thread to another.

These objects and other advantageous ends I attain as hereinafter setforth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of part of a circular knitting machine,illustrating my invention as applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a plan of the machine shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation on a somewhat reduced scale illustrating oneform of the mechanism for controlling the thread guides and shearsforming part of my invention;

. Fig. 4 is a plan of the mechanism shown 1n Fig. 3;

Figs. 5 and 6 are elevations at right angles to each other, illustratingthe detail construction of the shearing and holding devices forming partof my invention;

Fig.7 is a plan of the mechanism shown in Figs. 5 and 6;

Fig. 8 is a detached perspective of the shearing and holding mechanism;

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9-9, Fig. 1;

Fig. 10 is a transverse section illustrating the detail construction .ofthe pawls for holding the thread guides in their active or inactivepositions; and

Figs. 11, 12 and 13 are diagrammatic views illustrating the operation ofcertain parts of my invention.

In my Patent 1,359,258, Nov. 16, 1920, I have described and illustrateda two color thread or yarn changer with the necessary thread shearingand holding mechanism but in attempting to employ three or more colorsof thread I found it necessary to provide a novel arrangement of thecutting and holding mechanism particularly as regards the relation tothe thread guides, as well as a novel construction and arrangement ofcam mechanism for selectively controlling the operation of the threadguides, and the cutting and holding elements.

In the above drawings 1 represents a portion of the fixed structure of acircular knitting machine which, in the case illustrated, has a rotarycam ring 2 carrying vertically extending posts or standards connected attheir upper ends by and serv ing to support a spider or frame 4. This atits center has a hub 5 which through a dial post 6 and certain otherparts forming no portion of the present invention, carries a dial 7adjacent the upper end of a relatively stationary needle cylinder 8.

On one side of the upper edge of the cam ring is fixed a block 10 formedwith a fiat face lying in a plane preferably at an angle of about to thehorizontal and having rojecting perpendicular to said face a bcfit orscrew 11 constituting a pivot for at least three thread guides 12, 13and 14. Each of these includes a long arm having a thread guiding eye 15at that end adjacent the needle cylinder, in addition to which it hasapairof outwardly projecting arms 16 and 17 and these, owing to theangular mounting of the pivot member 11, are'arranged in two sets'withthe elements of each set one over the other.

topmost fixed holding plate 33 and the bearing which supports said bolt;--all of said plates being yieldingly pressed together by a coil spring38 con end of said bearing and a removable head 39 on the upper end ofthe bolt;

The lower shear blade 34 and the lower movable holding plate 36 are bothpivotally connected to an operatin bar extending outwardly away from t eneedle cylinder and slidably guided through anopening in a plate 41fixed to the block 9; a second 0 crating bar 42 being similarly guided yMoreover the arrangement i Su h said plate above the bar 40. The innerend the lowest arm 17 of the u permost yarn guide. lies in a horizontalp ane above the second" horizontal plane including the lowest arm of theuppermost yarn guide 12.

Each of the yarn guides is intended to oc= cupy either of two positionsin one of which the thread is so directed as to be engaged by theneedles of the cylinder 8, and in the other of which said thread is heldaway from the cylinder so that it cannot be engaged by the needles. Forholding the guides in either of these positions each of them is formedwith two edge notches 18 and 19 and the block 10 has mounted on it anextension 20 having recesses for three spring pressed dogs 21, 22 and23, each designed'to enter either of the notches of its particular yarnguide. A guard plate 24 (Figs. 1 and 2) is removably mounted on saidextension 0% the block 10 so as to prevent closing of the needlelatches.

In addition to the yarn guides, the block 10 carries a plate 25 slottedfor the reception of a screw 26 whereby it is clamped in place so thatupon loosening said screw it may be moved in a direction generallytoward or from said guides. Said plate is also slotted for the receptionof the second screw 27 (Fig. 2) whereby there is clamped to it a plate28 (Figs. 5-7) providing a bearing for a bolt 29 inclined in a linesubstantially parallel to that of the screw or pivot 11, it being notedthat the slot for the screw 27 extends in a line substantially at rightangles to that of the screw 26 in order that the plate 28 may beadjusted toward or from the center line of the machine.

On the bolt 29 are fixed three holding plates 31, 32 and 33 ofsubstantially similar form, each having one elongated arm and twoshorter arms respectively fitting on 0pcoil springs 43 and 44 extendbetween the guide plate 41 and the two movable shear blades 34 and 35respectively so as to tend to retain these with their associated holdingplates 36 and 37 immediately under the fixed plates 31, 32 and 33.

With this arrangement of parts the inward movement of either of theoperating bars 40 or 42 swings one of the movable shear blades with 1tsassociated movable holding plate against the action of the correspondingspring 43 or 44 from a closed, thread retaining position in which saidblade and plate lie respectively below and above a fixed plate, into aposition in which these members project at an angle to the latter. Inthe former position the end of a thread extending from between the fixedand movable shear blades 34 and the holding plate 31, for example, andleading to one of the arm guides, would be frictionally held betweensaid holding plate 31 and the movable holding plate 36, while in thelatter or open position such thread end would be re- I when its threaddirecting end is in its outer position, will turn such guide on thepivot screw 11 and swing its thread directing end into its innerposition immediately adjacent the needle cylinder. Similarly, an inwardpressure exerted on the arm 16 of a guide whose thread delivering end isin its inner position, will swing said guide on the pivot screw 11 so asto move said thread delivering end 15 into a position inwhich the threadcannot be engaged by the needles.

For actuating the thread guides through ned between the upperthe arms 16and 17 and the shear and holding plates through the bars 40 and 42, Iprovide certain selection mechanism shown in detail in Figs. 1 to 4inclusive. This includes two rods 50 and 51 vertically guided insuitable bearings formed in or supported by the plate or base structure1, and of these two rods, the first has fixed to it a plate 52 carryinga throw-out cam 53. A second plate 54 also carried by the plate 52carries a third plate 55 carrying a throw-in cam 56-,the intermediateplate 54 being perforated for the passage of the rod 51 on which it isvertically slidable.

The throw-in cam 56 consists of a flat plate of such thickness that itmay engage any one of the arms 17 of the three yarn guides withoutaffecting the others of said arms, while the throw-out cam 53 consistsof a structure having a flat vertical surface in which is formed ahorizontal slot 57 (Figs. 1 and 3) of such width that it will permit thepassage through it of any one of the three arms 16 of the yarn guideswithout operating engagement while the adjacent flat face of saidstructure 53 either above or below this slot will act upon either orboth of the other two arms 16 to swing the corresponding yarn guidesfrom active to inactive positions.

For elevating the rod 50 at predetermined times to bring the two cams 56and 53 into any one of their three operative positions, I provide an arm60 fixed to a sleeve 61 rotatable in a suitable bearing structure 62carried by a portion 63 of the frame of the machine and also havingfixed to it a second arm 64 capable of being oscillated by any of twoseries of pins 65 and 66 projecting perpendicularly from one face of acam wheel 67 at any of three distances from the center thereof.

They consequently cause the arm 64 and with it the arm 60 to be swungthrough any one of three different angles depending upon their positionon the cam wheel and thus raise the cams 53 and 56 from one activeposition to either of two other active positions in which they cooperatewith the arms 16 and 17 of the yarn guides.

The rod 51 is actuated through an arm 69 fixed to a spindle 7 0rotatably mounted within the sleeve 61 and also having fixed to it asecond arm 71 capable of engaging any of the pins 66 which are arrangedupon the cam wheel 67 at either of two distances from the supportingshaft 68 thereof. The pins 65 being shorter than the pins 66, are notengaged by the arm 71. The shear operating cam 72 which is carried bysaid rod 51, is thus periodically moved from an inactive position toeither of two active positions in which it engages either of the shearoperating bars 40 or 42 as the case may be as the cam ring 2 is rotated.Prior to putting the machine in operation the two sets of pins 65 and 66are arranged in the proper radial positions and in suitable numbers onthe cam wheel 67 and if it'be. assumed that yarn of three differentcolors is supplied to the three guides 12, 13 and 14, respectively, themachine when started would be operated with one of said guides, as 12,in the position shown in Fig. 2, i. e., with its yarn delivering eye 15immediately adjacent the needle cylinder in. position to permit itsthread to be engaged and knitted by the needles.

The three cams 53. 56 and 72 would all normally occupy their lowerpositions so that as the cam ring 2 with its associated parts is turnedin a counter-clockwise direction the machine knits a tubular ribbedfabric in the well known manner. During this time the second and thirdthreads leading from the delivering eyes of the yarn guides 13 and 14extend from the latter so that one of them is frictionally held betweenthe shear blades 33 and the movable holding blade '37 while the other issimilarly held between the fixed shear blade 31 and the movable holdingblade 36.

If now the pattern requires that a thread of another color besubstituted for that delivered from the guide 12, the pins on the camwheel 67 are so arranged that as said wheel is intermittently turned bymechanism forming no part of the present invention, one of the pins 65engages and raises the arm 64. If it is desired to knit into the fabrlcthe yarn of the color carried by the guide 13, the pin 65 which movesthe arm 64 is placed so as to raise said arm to its second orintermediate height and through the arm 60 thereby raise the rod 50 withthe two cams 53 and 56 to the middle of their three operative positions.The latter of said arms upon the succeeding revolution of the camcylinder, comes into engagement with the arm 17 of'the intermediate yarnguide 13,

thereby swinging its thread delivering eye 15 inwardly into such aposition that the thread leading therefrom to the shears is engaged bythe needles,it being held in this position by its pawl or dog 22. Afterthe needles have caught the thread sufficiently to hold it from pullingout, the cam 53 engages the projecting arm 16 of the yarn guide 12without affecting the projecting arm 16 of the guide 13 since the latterpasses through its slot 57. Said guide 12 is thereupon turned on itspivot so that its thread deliv ering eye is moved away from the needlesfrom the position shown diagrammatically in Fig. 11 to that illustratedin Fig. 12. About the same time one of the longer pins 66 placed on thecam wheel at the intermediate distance from the shaft 68, comes intoengagement with the arm 71, raising this but without affecting theposition of the arm 64, which already occupies a similar posiing fromthe delivery eye of the middle whi yarn guide 13 is thus released andshortly; thereafter the yarn leading from the guide,

12 is delivered into the angular space defined by the shear blade 33 onthe one side and the blade 35 and the plate 37 on the other. Obviouslythe thread guides remain in the positions to which they are moved bytheir respective cams 53 and 56 owing to the holding action of the dogs21 and 22, whereas as soon as the cam 72 passes out of engagement withthe bar 42, the spring 44 acts to close the shear blade 35 and theholding plate 37, thus severing the yarn from the ide 12 and holdingthat end thereof 0%? leads from said guide. Owing to the peculiarmounting and ositioning of the thread guides and shear lades, thesevered end of the thread previously delivered from the guide 12 isextremely short, as is also the end of the new color thread deliveredfrom the guide 13. Moreover these ends, for the above noted reasons, arecompletely knitted into the fabric so that they do not project,

forming a sightly connection requiring none' of the subsequent work onthe part of the operator which would have been necessary if a greater orless length of either or both of the ends had been allowed to projectfrom the surface of the fabric.

After having performed their functions, the two cams 53 and 56 remain intheir given positions, while the cam 72 drops to its inactive positionand the machine continues to operate in the well known manner until thepattern again requires a change of color. Obviously bya suitablepositioning of the pins and 66 on the cam wheel 67, either one of theyarn guides 12 or 14 may then be thrown into action and the yarn guide13 thereafter withdrawn, so that the knittin of the fabric is continuedeither with threa of the color first supplied or with thread of thethird color delivered by the guide 14.

In the first case the cam 72 actuates the bar 42 to release the threadcarried by the guide 12 and thereafter sever the thread from the guide13, while in the second case said'cam is so positioned as to operate thebar 40 to free the end of the thread from the guide 14 and subsequentlysever that from the guide 13. It is thus possible to knit the fabricwith threads of three colors in any desired order and for any desiredlengths without in any case havin unsightly connections at the points 0change from one thread to the other or allowing projecting ends ofthread which require to be removed by the operator upon the completionof the work.

Owing to the peculiar construction of the 16 of that particular one ofthe yarn guides which has just been .thrown into active position by thecam 56, at the same t me presenting its adjacent vertical faces eitherabove or below said slot for engagement with the arm 16 of thatone ofsaid thread guides which is to be moved from its active to its inactiveposition.

I claim:

1. The combination with the cylinder and needles of a circular knittingmachine of at least three yarn guides each comprising a pa r of rearwardspaced arms, said guides being pivotally mounted to turn on a commonaxis inclined'at an acute angle to the center line of the cylinderwhereby the said arms are disposed in different horizontal planes; meansadapted to engage said arms for turning said guides on their pivot in apredetermined succession into and out of the thread deliveringpositions; with means for severing and thereafter holding the threadsfrom said guides as they are moved to their inactive positions.

2. The combination with the cylinder and needles of a circular knittingmachine of at least three yarn guides each comprising a pair of rearwardspaced arms, said guides being pivotally mounted to turn on a commonaxis inclined at an acute angle to the. center line of the cylinderwhereby the said arms are disposed in different horizontal planes; meansadapted to engage said arms for turning said guides on their pivots in apredetermined succession into and out of the thread deliveringpositions; with a plurality of sets of shears including ele mentsmounted to turn on an axis also inclined at an acute angle to the centerline of the cylinder, for severing the threads from the guides afterthese latter have been moved to inactive positions.

' 3. The combination with the cylinder and needles of a circularknitting machine of at least three yarn guides pivotally mounted to turnon a common axis inclined at an acute angle to the center line of thecylinder, means for turning said guides on their pivots in apredetermined succession into and out of the thread deliveringpositions, with a plurality of sets of shears including elements mountedto turn on an axis parallel to the axis of the yarn guides for severingthe threads from the guides after these latter have been removed toinactive positions.

4. The combination with the cylinder and needles of a circular knittingmachine of a plurality of superposed thread guides each having twoactuating arms extending in different planes; with mechanism foractuating said guides including a cam having a substantially verticalface formed with a transverse slot; and means for moving said cam to anyof a number of positions in which one actuating arm of a thread guidelies in a horizontal plane including the slot while the vertical face ofsaid cam is positioned to act on others of said arms.

5. The combination with the cylinder and needles of a circular knittingmachine of a plurality of thread guides each having two actuating armsproJecting in two parallel planes; mechanism for actuating said threadguides including a cam vertically adjustable to engage one arm of anyrofsaid guides; with a second cam having a slot positioned to permitpassage of the second arm of the guide engaged by said first cam withoutactmg thereon while actuating the ,arm of at least one other guide.

6. The combination with the cylinder and needles of a circular knittingmachine of a series of superposed thread guides mounted to turn on anaxis inclined to the center line of the cylinder and each having twoactuating arms projecting in parallel planes; with two camsautomatically adjustable to positions in which one engages any one ofone set of said guide actuating arms and the slot of the. other campermits of the free passage of the second arm of the guide actuated bythe first cam while actuating the second arm of any of the other guides.In witness whereof I afiix my si ature.

WALTER LAB IN.

